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These Love Letters from the 1940s Found After Hurricane Sandy Will Make You Cry Happy Tears

I may need to get a new computer because I just sobbed all over my keyboard.

While East Coast residents are still feeling the effects of the devastation of Hurricane Sandy, there’s at least one story to smile about as a result of the storm. Amid the damage, a Kathleen Chaney and her son came across a bundle of 56 letters tied with a pink bow washed ashore on the beach in New Jersey, which Chaney immediately knew were love letters (“I’ve watched enough romantic movies,” she said. Ha!) The letters were water damaged, but after drying them in front of the fireplace, Chaney discovered a beautiful love story.

The letters were written by Dorothy “Dot” Fallon to her then boyfriend, Lynn Farnham from 1942 until their 1948 wedding. They were separated while she attended nursing school and he served in the Army. Chaney eventually found the couple’s niece through an online genealogy site. Sadly, Lynn passed away in 1992, but the niece plans to read the letters to Dot over her next visits to the nursing home where Dot resides.

You can watch the story on the Today Show via this video clip. But grab your tissues first.

At one point, Dot wrote three letters to Lynn in one day! They must have missed each other so much.

Dot’s niece recalls her aunt and uncle’s morning routine: “Lynn and Dottie were always very affectionate with each other. “She had a habit in the morning when she'd get out of bed, just as she went around the bed to just reach down and wiggle his toes a little bit, like, okay, time to wake up.” OK, too cute.

In a letter, Dot says “Really Lynn, it doesn't matter where we live, as long as we can call it a home of our own.” And that, my friends, is true love.

Sniff, sniff. A bundle of love letters definitely sounds like something straight out of movie, but this real life story is even more romantic than fiction, don’t you think?

Doesn't this story make you choke up? How sweet is it that he saved her letters in that bundle, and how wonderful is it that she'll get to see them again after all these years?